Free Gabriel by Nikki Kelly

snatched my hands away. “Because today you exist. And because tomorrow, if you choose it, you can live .” I halted for a moment as a couple passed us by, but Ruadhan interjected before I had a chance to further my argument.
    â€œI have fulfilled my duty, sweetheart. There’s nothing left for me to live for.”
    â€œIf you don’t want to live for yourself, then live for me. I still need you,” I pleaded. “I want to be happy, Ruadhan. And I want that for you, too.” As I said the words, I exerted as much conviction into them as I could muster.
    â€œGod knows, you deserve to be happy, Lailah, but…” Ruadhan said, his gaze falling to his feet.
    â€œBut what?”
    â€œYou know that Purebloods walk the Earth, infecting human beings to build their armies. I know you, and I don’t think you can simply turn away from that.”
    I hesitated, a shiver running up my spine as I tried to pretend that what he said wasn’t true. “You don’t know me, Ruadhan. I will go away; I will run and I will hide.”
    â€œMaybe.” He fidgeted where he sat. “But you won’t be able to turn a blind eye for long. You’ll stop running.”
    â€œThat’s a very large assumption.”
    â€œNo, it’s not. You knew Zherneboh was coming, and you ran toward him not away from him. Why did you do that?”
    â€œI didn’t want him to end you all. He was after me, not you. If I were killed, then the weapon he had created would be gone, and there could be no war.”
    â€œYou were prepared to sacrifice your life for us. For everyone.” He cleared his throat, choked up at the memory. “Zherneboh may have intended to produce a weapon in order to wage a war between the worlds, but what if, instead of creating an enemy for Heaven, he created a savior for Earth?”
    I edged away from him. I didn’t want to hear this. “I am no savior. You have me confused with someone else.” I found my feet and stood up abruptly.
    Ruadhan joined me and placed his hand on my arm, stopping me from walking away. “Gabriel is prepared to grant me my last request, and I ask it of him because I have no reason to go on. I no longer have a purpose to serve. Give me a reason … give me a purpose, Lailah. If there is even a glimmer inside you that you will fight, that you will deliver freedom to the world … then I shall wait for you, and I will be right beside you while you try.”
    I crossed my arms and rubbed them, trying to rid myself of the chill. But I knew it wasn’t coming from the cold breeze nipping at my skin. I peeked up. Ruadhan’s eyes were expectant as he waited for my reply, and I began to crumble a little inside. “If I try, I will fail.”
    Ruadhan pinched the top of my shoulders with his fingers and sighed. “Little love, you will only fail if you don’t try.”
    I took a deep breath, absorbing Ruadhan’s message. How could I take on an army of Pureblood Masters and their Second Generation Vampires? I couldn’t even control my abilities yet. And it wasn’t just my life I was affecting; it was also Gabriel’s. After all that had happened, all that he had been through to find me, to save me, to still love me—I didn’t want to be the cause of his unhappiness.
    â€œIt’s not just me, Ruadhan. It’s Gabriel, too. He knows … he understands the dimensions, the beings that inhabit them, the risks, and he wants to run.” There was a part of me that felt as though I was being a coward, as though I was hiding behind Gabriel, but it was true.
    â€œLailah, you must search your soul and pick your own path. You must trust in yourself to make and own those decisions. If you don’t, any freedom, any happiness you might find, will only be short lived.”
    â€œAnd what if the path I choose leads me away from everything I have been searching for,” I